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Tuesday, February 13, 2007

- Premium Tap is slated to run in Saudi Arabia this weekend in preparation for the Breeders Cup. The Saratogian's Jeff Scott, laments the probable loss to interests overseas of another attractive stallion prospect, this one from the Ribot line, with bloodlines considered unfashionable in North America.

Unfortunately, the Ribot line is in severe decline, the victim of aspects of a commercialized breeding industry that have, according to Thoroughbred Times bloodstock editor John Sparkman, "combined to strangle out almost everything else, even a line as great as Ribot's." Last year, for example, only one percent of the 21,000-plus foals born in Kentucky were tail-male descendants of Ribot.

Despite dwindling numbers, Ribot-line runners have continued to excel at the highest levels of the sport. The World Thoroughbred Rankings rated Premium Tap and David Junior (another son of Pleasant Tap, who unfortunately has been exported to Japan) among the 10 best older horses in the world in 2006. Another Ribot-line runner, Nobiz Like Shobiz, is one of the favorites for this year's Kentucky Derby.....Perhaps someone would realize that people with the sport's best interests in mind may one day wish at least a few of the best broodmares from this era had been bred to stallions not descending from Mr. Prospector, Storm Cat or A.P. Indy.

- Alan Shuback reports in the Form that the Racing Post reports that Discreet Cat may report to the World Cup without a prep.

Meanwhile, tickets for the event are selling at an astonishing rate, according to the website Gulfnews.com.

All corporate hospitality and dining packages for the Dubai World Cup have now sold out.

However, tickets for the International Village are still available.

Safiya Burnell, Head of Marketing and Sales, said: "The Dubai World Cup is now firmly established as the leading social and sporting occasion in the region.....It is set to be one of the greatest races ever witnessed at the famous Nad Al Sheba track, with Discreet Cat and Invasor - officially ranked the two best horses in the world - likely to run.

I still have my doubts. Things like this just don't happen in our sport, do they? (And if they do, they take place thousands of miles away, and beyond the view of those without TVG/HRTV, a local simulcast outlet, or an online account with access to the feed. Do you think a network, say, ESPN, will pick it up?